Transit police under fire from Metro Vancouver mayors

Kelly Sinoski, Vancouver Sun02.20.2013

Transit police Chief Neil Dubord said taxpayers could be on the hook for higher costs if the Transit police were removed because the number of municipal officers would have to be increased to replace them.

Transit police are once again coming under scrutiny, this time by Metro Vancouver mayors who question whether the costly two-tiered police force is justified.

The mayors’ council on regional transportation asked TransLink’s independent commissioner Wednesday for a comparative review of the costs and services of the Transit police compared with local forces to determine if there are any potential cost savings for TransLink.

The move comes as TransLink faces rising transit policing costs at the same time it wrestles with a projected $30-million shortfall in both 2013 and 2014 because mayors have refused to raise property taxes for transit expansion.

Delta Mayor Lois Jackson said she sought the report to “illustrate the magnitude” of the Transit police, which has both security guards and “full-fledged gun-toting police officers” responsible for safety and security around the region’s SkyTrain and transit hubs.

“I’d like to know what service is being used and if it is even required,” Jackson said, noting she would like to see how it compares with costs and benefits of police work done in Delta or other Metro municipalities. “How many severe incidents have taken place where you need a uniformed police officer?”

The 167-member Transit police — the first of its kind in Canada — came into operation in 2005, primarily to respond to public concerns about security and fare evasion, mainly related to SkyTrain.

But the force, with an annual budget of $27 million, has come under fire, as its costs continue to rise by an average of about seven per cent year. TransLink also plans to start its new faregate and Compass card system later this year, which is expected to help address fare evasion on the system.

Mayor Gregor Robertson said it’s crucial an analysis is done. “We’re all managing police and when you compared the accrued analysis, the Transit police are far more expensive than the relevant service,” he said. “We should compare all models of policing.”

TransLink CEO Ian Jarvis said Wednesday the Transit police is an issue “of safety and security and is something that is paramount.”

But Jackson says that while she agrees, “I don’t think we need two types of police.”

Langley City Mayor Peter Fassbender, who represents mayors in RCMP talks, said mayors have raised a valid concern, especially in light of the new faregate system and TransLink’s consistent funding woes.

“All of us are looking at all the costs, including policing,” he said. “If there’s a more efficient way, we should look at it. But it’s more complicated when you look at the costs and offsets … will we need more policing or can we use existing forces?

“The bottom line is everybody is saying ‘what are the real costs and why?’ And if we wanted to look at a different model for providing public safety on SkyTrain and the system, what would that look like?”

TransLink spokesman Derek Zabel said TransLink would not comment further on the recommendation, noting “it’s an initiative of the mayors’ council and we will await the outcome.”

Transit police Chief Neil Dubord said taxpayers could be on the hook for higher costs if the Transit police were removed because the number of municipal officers would have to be increased to replace them.

Within the Lower Mainland, he said, the Transit police deal with 20,000 files each year, with half of those in the Vancouver police jurisdiction.

He noted that since Transit police have addressed the problems in the region, public satisfaction of safety along the system has increased to 85 per cent from 65 per cent.

“We’ve done some work on the transit system, put some bad people in jail … now with the safety and security we have, people have forgotten what it was like,” he said.

In an independent report by the University of the Fraser Valley, Darryl Plecas, of the Centre for Public Safety & Criminal Justice Research, said Transit police are contributing to reducing crime by identifying and arresting serious and prolific offenders.

In 2011, the report noted, Transit police arrested 606 offenders for 747 outstanding warrants. The majority of the arrests were the result of fare checks, with the balance due to responding to crime and disorder situations on and around the system.

The report refers to the fact that, for the most part, the individuals arrested were “highly recidivist, serious, chronic offenders who were at large in the community.”

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Transit police under fire from Metro Vancouver mayors

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